There and Back Again: Week 33 Happy Father's Day!

This is my dad in his prime. A few years later he had an accident. In his own words he says, "Between 33,000 and 57,000 volts, depending on which newspaper you read, went from the lines, through the machine, and arced to me, as I stepped over the outrigger and grounded in a concrete wall. I did not lose conscious, but I wish I had. At first, I thought I was in an explosion, but it kept going and I felt a hammering in every cell of my body. I couldn’t figure out what was happening. I tasted copper on the sides of my tongue and saw bright blue-white flashes reflecting off everything, like arc welding. I smelled burnt flesh and hair. It held me in the air for several seconds, spinning awkwardly, with sparks flying from my body. A first powerline gave way, and the boom continued upward and made contact with a second line. Another jolt hit me. This time it threw me about 10 feet, and out of the electrical field. "

He was in the hospital for a year and told he would never walk nor have children. They had to take the skin off his back and put it on his legs to re cover the muscle and bone. CRAZY. He was given a priesthood blessing while he lay sizzled in the gravel. I am the oldest of his 8 children.

He transferred from Linfield Baptist College to Brigham Young University and met my lovely mother.

And we started rolling down from heaven. LOL My dad is far from perfect...does that even have to be said? My dad is a fantastic example of a disciple of Jesus Christ. He LOVES the Lord and desires to bring all people unto him. His whole life has been a mission since that "shocking" event. I am grateful for his example of perseverance in adversity, trust in the Lord, and making all of us kids feel like we are capable and needed. He never genderized chores, I weilded power tools just like my brothers, they did dishes and helped "feed the baby" just like the girls. Dad was a natural teacher and friend. He also continues to live even in PAIN! At Christmas he fell and snapped his spine in half and had to have his spine screwed back together so it could heal.

No matter how much pain he is in, he keeps doing fun things, showing up for birthdays, baptisms, weddings, showers, mission farewells, mission homecomings. He, right there with mom,is always loving us.

I am grateful that my dad took his abusive childhood, turned to Christ and became a better man, a better dad than he had. I am grateful for his imperfect examples and his perfect ones. I am grateful for my HEAVENLY Father who sent my Older Brother, Jesus Christ to make it possible for all of us to come home to Heavenly Father and Mother where we can be families forever. Happy Father's Day!

CHEMISTRY and HOMESCHOOLING!

Homeschooling is HUGE out here. I mentioned to one of our historians that I homeschooled my kids and that I used to be a chemist. She asked if she could share my info with her group. Last week I had the extreme pleasure of teaching over 30 kids ages 5 to 18 the joys of Acid/Base indicators. Sharing our gifts, talents, and knowledge is how we serve Christ. In the book of Mormon, King Benjamin tells us that when we are in the service of our fellow beings we are only in the service of our God. Jesus said, "If you've done it unto the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me." I was grateful and delighted to have the opportunity and hope I get invited back!

The Helmet of Salvation.

I went to my first THRESHERS faire in a place called Denmark, IA. It was mostly tractors, cute little tractor rides, cool old cars, Amish baked goods, wonderful crafts...and then a random Ren Faire booth with cool things like this helmet! LOL I had to buy it. I could not, not buy it. It was the "Helmet of Salvation" talked about in the New Testament. Ephesians 6:17 instructs us to put on the whole armor of God and to “take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.” When a soldier suited up for battle, the helmet was the last piece of armor to go on. It was the final act of readiness in preparation for combat. A helmet was vital for survival, protecting the brain, the command station for the rest of the body. If the head was badly damaged, the rest of the armor would be of little use. KNOWING you are a literal spirit child of God can do much against Satan's attacks on our thinking. Knowing that you don't have to be perfect or flawless because Jesus Christ suffered His attoning sacrifice so we can all be healed and saved if we choose Him, can ward off many mental blows of the adversary. The helmet of salvation protects our minds from deception because we have God's WORD, and God's prophets to help us KNOW Truth.

Elder Cullen didn't even contest the purchase. He thought it was cool too. LOL His happy surprise at the faire was finding tractors that reminded him of his days on Uncle Les's farm in Coram, New York!

There and Back Again: Week 32 Bye Bye Love! Bye Bye McConeghey Family!!!

Tomorrow my daughter, Autumn and her sweet husband, Aaron, and kids (Emmet and Taran) will be moving to Tennessee. Heavenly Father has been SO kind to give us this 6 month overlap so we can enjoy each other and strengthen our relationships and be so close (just a 2 hour drive!). We came up to help them pack, but they were pretty much super organized and just needed us to keep the boys busy. We will MISS them immensley!

As I played with the boys at the park I was soaking up every minute of pushing on the swings, throwing the ball, climbing, oooing and ahhing at their skills. I was also thinking, they are never going to remember this time,they are too young, but I hope they remember that we love them very very much!

Then I thought of our "Earth Life School". We ALSO do not remember moments of sitting on Heavenly Father's knee while he sang to us or working in a flower garden with Heavenly Mother or doing whatever we did up there. We have a veil over our minds for this blind test, BUT I do know that they love us very much. THAT fact has carried me through a lot. Just as we are relegated to video chat and phone with McConegheys again, we are still able to talk through prayer and our spiritual experiences with Heavenly Father. So the time spent loving each other is not for nothing. This small contact reminds us, we are loved.

We drove home from Iowa City and got back in time to attend a missionary fireside in Nauvoo about God's Plan of Happiness. Specifically how Zion fits into the great plan. It was WONDERFUL! Basically since the Fall of Adam and Eve, we have been separated from God (he's the glowing creation figure we're the gray figure). Jesus Christ provided the way to repent and be sanctified by his Atonement which will bring us back into God's presence. Establishing Zion will help us learn how to live in Heaven! One heart, one mind, no poor among them, everyone doing their best, everyone caring about each other. Not all the same,(look around at all the diversity of beauty and skill in God's creations...God is diverse) but all with the same intent...to be like Christ in thought and behavior. When we've learned that, we will be sanctified and able to withstand the presence of God again.

In OTHER news, last week we survived our first Tornado. We were driving from Carthage to Nauvoo for a choir rehearsal (I am accompanying the choir) and our phones and car went LOUDLY on Alert, "WARNING!!! Tornado is heading your way, go immediately to shelter. If you are in your car, get out and lay face down in a ditch!" It was raining hard and the wind was blowing, but it didn't seem dangerous. Elder Cullen said, "We're ten minutes away, let's get to the visitor's center where we can shelter in the basement. That sounded better than a ditch to me. I floored it and we got there in 5 minutes. By that time the wind was blowing SIDEWAYS and people from all over were running to the Visitor's Center, drenched and excited and scared. Down in the basement were guests, senior missionaries, and a bunch of young performing missionaries. That was a party...piano, guitar, ukele, card games, singing in glorious harmonies, the perfect place to wait out a storm. No one I know of got hurt. Many trees down, LOTS of clean up. It made me think again of life. There are dangerous storms in all of our lives that can physically and spiritually and emotionally harm us...lethally. HOWEVER we can shelter in Christ together...all ages, all ablilites, all walks of life and it can still be a party. Next time I shelter I'm bringing pizza! LOL I know God could have provided that too. tee hee Great Quote:" ‘I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.’ (Doc. and Cov. 82:10.) He operates by law and not by arbitrariness or caprice.” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1930, p. 96.) Everyone is capable of all the promised blessings. Just follow the rules. Have a great week! Check your 72 hour kits.